In this programme, we ask what are the challenges of objectivity in news, in a 'multi-polar world' of political agendas?

Given new formats for news such as a fondness for the soap box, or the merging of news with other formats of television, what are the potential conflicts between the demands of entertainment and the need for reliable information in a democratic world?

Should, for instance, terrorism be a bigger story than malaria?

What is the future of news when the internet may undermine the old-fashioned paternalistic precepts of monolithic news platforms?

And is it inevitable that the public appetite for sensation will overwhelm more cautious and proportionate coverage?